Letting Go Of A Book

There’s a quote about the need to let go of a book once you’ve written it. I’ve looked it up and it seems to be attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci: “art is never finished, only abandoned,” he said. This quote is so true for writers. As one might tinker with a painting for hours – adding a bit more texture here, a few more highlights there – a writer will never be one hundred happy with his/her work and will always have the temptation of re-writing this paragraph or editing that chapter.

It is a temptation that we must resist and it’s something I’ve been finding hard recently. Not because I’ve written something bad, or need to correct mistakes, but because the book is still in my head. I’m still thinking about it, even though I’ve written the end.

Sometimes you have to say to yourself, it’s okay to let go

I’ve been working on another project and now that it’s done, I should feel that it is finished. I’ve read through it several times, made corrections, re-written bits, changed other bits after suggestions from a friend, had a proof reader go through it. And still it is in my thoughts. Because I’m still getting emails about book covers and reviews and all this sort of stuff and it keeps dragging me back to the project which, really, I should have abandoned a month ago.

Even Mind Secrets, my novel which I wrote before that, continues to play in my mind. I’ve recently done a publicity tour for that and I’ve been telling people about the tour, checking on websites to see if anyone has left any comments I need to answer, and so on. I’m also serialising the novel in audio form on this website and so I keep listening to myself reading bits of it. Plus, with each instalment, I give a brief rundown of the story so far, so I need to pick up the book, skim read a chapter and write that up in the weekly podcast blog.

This sort of stuff can drive you crazy because you always spot something you would like to change. Like cleaning your car, putting away all your cleaning gear, coming inside, then looking out at the driveway and realising you’ve missed a bit.

The point is, no matter how hard you try or how gifted you are, your novel – or your art in Leonardo’s case – will never be perfect. For Mind Secrets, I remember, one of the first editors who read it didn’t really like the ending. And yet, I’ve since had reviews from people who really loved the way it ends. What’s the perfect last chapter in that scenario? For the reviewers, it’s the one I had written; for the editor, it’s one I hadn’t. The appreciation of art is subjective and no amount of tinkering will turn it into something everyone will like.

(It should also be said that over working a project can actually make it worse. Constantly re-writing a novel can remove the creative spark and the excitement which spurred the writer to write the story in the first place. Although this is perhaps the subject of a separate article).

My problem recently has not so much been the temptation to tinker, but the lingering of the book in my mind. I have other projects on the go and they need my full attention, and yet my past works still buzz in my head. What I need to do is listen a little bit to Leonardo and remember that my job is to abandon my art, no matter how close I feel to it, so I can move on. Like the parent waving their child off to university, my work is done and it’s now time for my offspring to live their own lives.

Sometimes Even Writers Need a Holiday

I have to admit it, I need a break. For several weeks last month, I wasn’t really that well (as I mentioned briefly on the blog). I decided I needed some time away, went to stay with a friend up north for a few days, but ended up going to bed early one night, turning down food another night and generally not being the life and soul, so I came back early. I’m generally better now, but I don’t feel refreshed in the slightest, so I decided enough was enough and to book myself a little holiday.

I’m not going anywhere as exotic as this place, but there’s something about a palm tree that has a wonderful ‘holiday’ feel about it, don’t you think?

It’s strange that, as a person working for myself, how difficult this decision was. When you have a regular job, you have so much holiday to take a year and there’s a sort of expectation that you will use some of that time to go away and paddle in the sea, climb a mountain or do whatever it is you do when you go on holiday. When you work for yourself, you have no specific amount of holiday to take (or “leave” as it seems increasingly to be called, which I hate), so it’s harder to justify. A week off means not working and not earning money, unlike a holiday from a regular company where you come back and find you still get paid.

This year, I’ve been very good with myself in terms of money. In other words, I’ve been watching what I spend and I haven’t been as extravagant as in the previous couple of years. But this is one extravagance I feel I need. So I’ve booked a hotel with a swimming pool (they had a good last minute offer) for five nights. I’m going to have some relaxing time swimming and lounging around and eating good food cooked by someone else. I’m also going to take some reading and am looking forward to catching up on several books I haven’t had a chance to read.

I’ll be taking my laptop because if I haven’t got the opportunity to write, I might go a bit stir crazy, but I’m not taking any plans to write anything. Honestly, I really need a break. And, when I’m back, I’m hoping those batteries will be re-charged and I’ll be raring to dash off a couple of novels (lol! ;) )

Sometimes, you know, even writers need a holiday.

 

Update Disaster!

Where are my new posts? If you’re wondering that, then you’re not the only one. I wrote them all and scheduled them to post, but they didn’t post! Turns out I mis-read the scheduling dates on my blog because they’re American and, therefore, backwards. The months are also written as numbers and I think I might have not have realised that September is the ninth month.

Does that make me sound exceptionally dim? Well, I’ve been working hard and I’ve not been well, so I think I’m allowed. That is my defence, m’lud, and I would like to throw myself on the mercy of the court.

I am now delving deep into the heart of my blog to re-schedule everything. There’s the next instalment of the Mind Secrets audio serial to listen to on Monday (missed any episodes? – catch up here on the podcasts page). Then there’s my regular Thursday blog. Meanwhile, if you’ve not seen it yet, you can always check out me on video.

Apologies to anyone who came expecting an update, but didn’t get one. I guess writers are much better at words than numbers.

 

The Discipline of Writing

Kingsley Amis famously said “the art of writing is the art of applying the seat of one’s trousers to the seat of one’s chair” and any successful writer knows how true those words are.

No amount of wandering though the countryside and daydreaming will get those words written.. The writer who waits for the muse is the writer who leaves behind a very small body of work. The muse has to be grabbed by the neck, strapped down and made to behave, or else that 80,000 word novel will continue to remain a daydream.

This very stern-looking woman is supposed to represent discipline. You don’t want to mess with her.

I know this, of course I know it. But this week I was reminded of it once again, as I came to the end of a project I’d been working hard on for several months. The trick is to get up the next day and start work on the next project and not sit about for weeks telling myself what a wonderful job I had done and how I really deserved some daydreaming time.

My plan had actually been to do some tidying up – my desk was an absolute mess, at least I assume it was my desk, it was difficult to tell under all the junk (see my post on My Writing Desk) – and to get my taxes done. My body, however, knew that I’d finished my project and decided I really needed to slow down a bit, so it made me ill. Not horrendously ill, but enough to make me go back to bed a couple of times. Then I was asked if I would do some extra radio work, and because I’d finished my project and the money is always useful, I said I would. This was also the week I told myself I would do more exercise, so I went for a walk. I had to send out some copies of books for review, I needed to clean the car, go to the shops… and suddenly the week had gone by without even looking at my tax return.

That week was a week of the undisciplined writer. If I was working in an office with a boss looking over my shoulder, I would not be able to waste a week like that. I know I should have applied myself, I just didn’t. It was fair enough that I was ill, and the days I went back to bed I probably needed to go to bed, and likewise the radio shift. But there was also a lot of staring at my email and internet in a non-productive way, which was not a good thing.

Next week will be different. I will get up and I will do stuff, and I will do it in a structured way. I will write lists and I will try to do the things on those lists, ticking them off with satisfaction as I do so. I’ve found a handy little free internet tool to track my progress, called Teux Deux (it pretends to be a French spelling of ‘to do’) which I would recommend to anyone. It’s online, which means you can have access to your to do list if you’re at your desktop, laptop or out and about with your smart phone. I have it as my home page on my browser so every time I’m tempted to waste time online, I am greeted with my ‘to do’ list.

I’m not going to beat myself up about my unproductive week (well, not beyond this blog post anyway), because that does me no good in the long run. In the world of writing, you have to get up the next day and get on with it. I’ve set myself goals in the past (finish the chapter, write 10,000 words this week) and not always made them and the worst thing I can do is try to catch up the next day because you end up getting further and further behind and being miserable with yourself. Much better to set a reasonable target, try your best to meet it and, if you don’t, take a fresh crack at a new target tomorrow. You can’t change yesterday, but you can change tomorrow, and that’s what I’m aiming to do.

A new blog on writing and the writer’s life will appear here every Thursday. And don’t forget the free instalment of the Mind Secrets audiobook every Monday. Only here on chrisreynolds-writer.co.uk

 

Fascinating Post on How Teenage Brains Work

On my guest blog today over at Motherhoot – a blog about family life – is all about how teenagers’ minds work. You may think they work pretty much the same as everyone elses, but there are actually scientific studies which show that’s not the case. There are actually reasons inside the grey matter that can explain a lot about teenage behavious – from sleeping in late, to not realising the consequences of their actions. I expand on this and provide links to some articles which elaborate on the science. Read more at Motherhoot.

What has this got to do with writing, you may ask. Well, my writing is s all about teenagers, getting into the teenage mind and grasping what it’s like to live on the border between childhood and adulthood.

 

Writing for the Modern Teenager

Taking my own experience of life and adapting it into a novel which I hope will appeal to the modern teenager, that’s what I’m writing about over at Bookingly Yours today.

“Being a teenager can be the best time of life. It’s the point where all the frivolities of childhood are left behind and we get to explore the things the wider world has to offer — like music and films and the other sex. It can the worst time as well, of course, as every emotion and every experience is heightened.” — Read more…

 

The Power of the Mind

My guest blog today at The Paperback Pursuer looks at the power of the mind. Our brains are so powerful, is it not possible that they are capable of more than just thinking and regulating our bodies? Maybe they are capable of more, maybe they are capable of special powers. It’s the conceit I used for my novel, Mind Secrets, and I talk more about it at The Paperback Pursuer – where you can read the whole article.

The blog also posts a great review of my novel – and it’s on a different link. “[The] action and fast-paced plot left me in a state of thrill-induced hypnosis!” – read the whole thing at The Paperback Pursuer.

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